Indy Theft Recalls Star Wars Incident in ‘77

Unless you’re living in a Chachapoyan cave you’ve probably heard that a bunch of production materials — photos, computers, etc. — from the new Indy movie were stolen recently. While this story seems to be wrapping up with the apparent apprehension of a suspect, it does recall a similar incident that occurred back in 1977 before Star Wars was released.

During Easter weekend (April 9-10) in 1977, someone broke into publicist Charles Lippincott’s Star Wars Corp. office on the Universal Studios lot and allegedly stole hundreds of Star Wars transparencies and framed reproductions of Ralph McQuarrie’s concept artwork for the movie. On that same weekend, there was a break-in at Industrial Light & Magic’s Van Nuys studio where at least one model was stolen (reports vary on the actual number taken).

Unlike the recent Indy incident, the Star Wars merchandise was never fully-recovered, although some transparencies did turn up at a convention later that year. Like Indy, the FBI got involved, but no resolution was ever reported – giving this mystery a persistent allure among fans in-the-know.